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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25995520">The Son</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaven/pseuds/Aaven'>Aaven</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Consequences of Good Intentions [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Clary Fray/Jace Wayland, Background Jem Carstairs/Tessa Gray - Freeform, Canon-Typical Violence, Clary Fray is a good friend, Demon Summoning, Emotionally Hurt Magnus Bane, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Magnus Bane &amp; Clary Fray Friendship, Magnus Bane &amp; Tessa Gray Friendship, Mental Breakdown, Minor Character Death, Mundane Magnus Bane, Powerless Magnus Bane, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 02:55:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,446</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25995520</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaven/pseuds/Aaven</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The consequences of one's choices always have a way of affecting those around them.</p><p>No matter how good or bad the intentions were.</p><p>A butterfly effect of fallout will blanket everything it was never intended to touch.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Consequences of Good Intentions [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1840192</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Son</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Part 2!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Magnus stood in his living room slash office and double-checked his work with a critical eye.</p><p>It had taken a while, far longer than he wished to dwell on, but he was finally here. And if everything went as planned tonight, he would have answers for all the questions that have been haunting him for the past five years.</p><p>The heaviest of which was wanting to know what had happened to his darling Alexander.</p><p>Magnus still remembers telling his lover goodbye as he was leaving on his usual night patrol with a kiss and a shaky smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He’d been trying to act normal, and Alexander had given him a small one in return with a sweet ‘I love you’ whispered into his ear, and then he was gone. It hadn’t even been a handful of hours when he was violently woken by Clary, saying something about Jace and that they needed to get to the infirmary. They’d arrived just as the doors burst open, and Isabelle was standing there, black tears running down her face and her lip wobbling with the force of keeping herself under control.</p><p>She’d taken one look at Magnus, and right before collapsing into horrible sobs on the floor, had whispered, “The bond…”</p><p>It didn’t take a genius to figure out what she meant; they’d already dealt with this exact situation not that long ago, and all the horrible realizations that came with it.</p><p>The parabatai bond.</p><p>Jace being in extreme agony, just like Alec had been.</p><p>Isabelle’s woeful tears.</p><p>His Alexander was dead, just like Jace had been.</p><p>Only this time, there wasn’t a one-use wish available to bring him back from death like last time.</p><p>What had happened?</p><p>How had it happened?</p><p>And most importantly, who had done it?</p><p>After the initial shock of seeing the now blank spot instead of Jace’s parabatai rune had passed, every able body gathered in the Ops. Room. Everyone’s immediate first answer to the who was Jonathan and Lilith, but they couldn’t leave out the possibility that the remaining circle members were just as likely to have a reason to get rid of Alec. His relationship with Magnus only a fraction of their vendetta against the now late Head of the New York Institute.</p><p>Scavenging through their computers for anything, they found a small dot of demonic activity from hours before that had flared into something equalling a high demon summoning that should have pinged on their radar but hadn’t. It seemed equally concerning that almost as quickly as it had flared to a worrying proportion, it had disappeared entirely. A quick message to other Institutes confirmed that their radars hadn’t picked up any activity at that level, but they would send word if anything changed.</p><p>An extraction team deployed within the hour, led by Isabelle, with Jace still recovering in the infirmary; their main goal was to retrieve Alec’s body for a proper memorial and burial.</p><p>There wasn’t <em>a </em> body when the team had entered the building, but <em>two piles </em>of bodies, all of them a part of the remaining circle members, and a large summoning circle drawn in the dead’s blood. A burn mark permanently scored into the floor just outside the lines were still smoking when Isabelle had crouched beside it to investigate closer.</p><p>Magnus had been asked to look over the pictures from the scene but had declined, saying they’d need to contact Lorenzo since he was now the High Warlock and asking Magnus was direct disrespect to the man. He also had a selfish reason for not wanting to see the photos, still hoping that it wasn’t real outside of everything.</p><p>So they’d reluctantly done as told, but when asked for help, Lorenzo had given the photos a cursory glance and said he didn’t recognize it before promptly charging them almost triple what Magnus ever had.</p><p>If he was honest, Magnus hadn’t dealt with the news as gracefully as he’d wished, and just like losing his magic, he’d filled the now gaping hole in his heart with as much alcohol as his system could handle. And on more than a few occasions, he passed his limits only to throw up and do the whole thing again.</p><p>Surprisingly, it was Clary who forced him out of his self-destructive behavior. Everyone had thought she would glue herself to Jace’s side, but once the news had reached the Clave and, more importantly, Alec’s parents about what had happened to their Institute Head and eldest son, the family had chosen to do their mourning in Alicante. Clary had stayed behind to look after Magnus since Jia had said, though not directly, that he wasn’t allowed to participate in the mourning ritual or empty burial since he was just a mundane. The excuse was flimsy at best, considering she had allowed Maryse entree even though part of her punishment was banishment from ever entering Alicante ever again.</p><p>She’d left him alone for the first few days to do his grieving in peace, but after finding him hunched over a toilet once too often, she’d finally had enough.</p><p>The next day Clary had marched into the room that Magnus had shared with Alec that he’d holed himself up in and forced him into a cold shower before dragging him to the training room to take his emotions out on dummies and eventually each other. At first, he argued at being forced out of his misery, but it was impossible to dissuade the stubborn girl once she set her mind on something.</p><p>The rest fell quickly into place after that. Once Jace and Isabelle returned, and Maryse returned to her mundane life, they’d developed a routine. Over the next year and several months, the pair paused for long enough periods to eat as much as either could stand, sleep at most a few hours, then spend the majority of their time trying to hunt down Jonathan.</p><p>Luke and Raphael helped when they could. Sending scouts and patrols along Shadowhunter’s for extra strength and speed while keeping an ear open on what was going on in the Downworld in case a lead happened to surface. Lorenzo kept a tight hold on the Warlocks of New York, but that didn’t stop Catarina from contacting those in other areas for help. Many were eager to help; others declined direct involvement but sent word if they found something incremental. Meliorn kept them connected with the Seelie’s, but he still had much to undo from the late Queen before he could help.</p><p>Every piece of free time either found was spent trading blows in the training room. To everyone on the outside looking in, the way they went at it was no different than going at each other’s throats.</p><p>Others tried to intervene at first, saying it wasn’t healthy but stopped once they realized what Clary was doing—having Magnus take his jumbled thoughts out in a controlled environment. Eventually, more Shadowhunter’s joined them. Though none ever went at it as hard as they did to each other, it was more wanting to go against someone who had trained for far longer than them or learning a new move every once and awhile.</p><p>It was something to focus on, a way to channel all of the negative feelings Magnus had no idea how to handle, and he thought it was working well.</p><p>Naturally, it wasn’t a surprise when something shifted <em>just </em>right one day, and the last thread finally snapped to make everything come crashing down from the precarious way he’d been balancing.</p><p>Honestly, Magnus isn’t entirely sure what had triggered it, looking back now. He and Clary had been sparing like usual one minute, and the next, he was curled up on the floor in her arms, crying and screaming harder than he could ever remember doing. No other past lover or ever the loss of his magic had made him act like that day in the training room. Jace and Isabelle had arrived at some point having heard his distress, but he’d only clung tighter to the poor girl as she whispered broken ‘I’m sorry’s and ‘We’ll find the bastard’ and a whole sloe of others he couldn’t remember. His breakdown lasted for several long minutes before he could collect himself enough to pull away and wipe his eyes, smearing what remained of his eyeliner that hadn’t run off with his river of tears.</p><p>That day had held more to it than finally letting himself <em>grieve </em>for who he’d lost instead of trying to hide from the pain behind a drunken haze or training fatigue. It had also been the day that had started him on the path he found himself at now.</p><p>The appearance of a box on the Institute steps was undoubtedly unusual and more than a suspicious surprise. Wrapped up all pretty with shining paper and a perfect bow on top, like something you’d get on your birthday.</p><p>Inside was the decapitated head of Jonathan Morgenstern.</p><p>Blinking his eyes to force the bloody memory from his mind, Magnus finally stood from his crouched position by the still wet circle. His legs protested the movement, but he forced them to move, busying himself with tidying up the little material he’d used while the summoning circle dried. Peaking into the next room, Clary sat at the kitchen island she’d claimed to stay out of the way, one of his potion books in her lap and a drawing pad next to her. From what he could see, she’d already doodled a few small things, but it was hard to see what they were from the angle and distance. Chairman Meow curled up in her lap in what he could say was a very precarious position, but he trusted Clary not to drop his cat if the feline decided to stretch and roll.</p><p>Looking around to make sure he’d taken out and covered everything he didn’t want soaking in after effect magic, he let his memories wander a bit more as he waited.</p><p>Roughly a few weeks after the decapitated head incident, his darling friend Tessa had shown up at the Institute with kisses, hugs, Chairman Meow, and a bottomless bag of Magnus belongings. She’d explained in little detail that Jem had found time to visit and update her on the happenings outside the Spiral Labyrinth. She’d been stunned at the news and had requested to leave her post to give her condolences. She’d done more than that considering the bag, but Magnus was just happy to see an old familiar face again.</p><p>Checking the bag’s contents showed everything from his closet and vanity, to the furniture and decor he’d had. He’d collected many magical items over the years, and everything from his workroom was there, enchanted, so nothing broke or touched that wasn’t supposed to. But the things he was thankful Tessa had managed to snag were his plethora of spells and potion’s books, his little box of memories, and all the things Alec had brought to show that he had lived in the loft as well.</p><p>The younger Warlock still refuses to tell him what she’d done to accomplish a no doubt expensive task. Though, if Lorenzo’s sudden eagerness to help soon after Tessa’s arrival and continued support even after she left meant anything, Magnus would have to say she hadn’t spent a single cent.</p><p>Isabelle had cleared their schedules for the remainder of the evening, and she, along with Clary and Tessa, had taken him out in search of a new apartment. Somewhere new to call his own that he didn’t have to share with others, especially Shadowhunter’s if he didn’t want to. Magnus had plenty of places to choose from with his accumulated wealth and ongoing investments in mundane and Downworlder stocks. He ended up choosing somewhere close to the Institute for an easy commute to the Institute. A bonus was that this new apartment could hold most of his furniture, and what couldn’t fit stayed inside the bag for storage.</p><p>Once all the paperwork was signed and finalized, the process sped up by a small influencing spell to convince the landlord to allow same-day move in; they all sat in the living room and sorted through everything.</p><p>To the girls' sad surprise, Magnus boxed and stored most of his flashier outfits in favor of bland, more comfortable, and moveable ones he’d only started buying because Alec had insisted that he wanted them to train more together. And moving around in studded and sequined shirts and tight leather pants wasn’t the most comfortable for that sort of activity.</p><p>Another sad change was that Magnus had asked Tessa to magic up a new bed for him. He claimed that his old one would be too big now and that a smaller one would make him feel less lonely.</p><p>Alec’s things were not put back into the bottomless bag once taken out. Instead, Clary and Isabelle had gone out and purchased a few storage bins so that Magnus could store them away but easily take them out and look at them when he wanted.</p><p>All in all, it took them two whole days to complete the monumental task; Magnus had to admit that he’d turned into a bit of a hoarder over the centuries. When everything was said and done, he couldn’t stop the first real smile from turning the corners of his lips up just the smallest amount.</p><p>That same small smile reflected on his face now as he slowly zoned back into the present and saw that the circle had finished drying.</p><p>“Biscuit.”</p><p>Magnus heard the chair’s slight creak as Clary stood from her position in the kitchen, Chairman meowing loudly in protest as his sleeping spot abandoned him. In seconds the hunter was standing beside him.</p><p>“What do you need me to do?” Clary asked.</p><p>“Don’t speak once he appears,” Magnus said immediately but not unkindly. In his peripheral, he saw her ginger hair move in a nodding motion once before it stilled. “Make sure the only thing you have on you is your stele, he doesn’t know individual Shadowhunter’s, and your gift isn’t known to even most of the Clave, so I doubt he’ll realize you don’t need a weapon to take him on.” He continued, and again, a single nod followed before she turned to get rid of her hidden weaponry array.</p><p>“When do you want me to draw the runes?” She asked once she was again by his side, her stele out and ready whenever he was.</p><p>Magnus took a long, deep breath before squaring his shoulders, finally turning to look his friend in the eye. “Now.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Kudos and comments are always appreciated and like before if I forgot any tags, please let me know!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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